The pundits and former players are still chewing over the most tantalising
titbit of tennis’s off season: the news that Andy Murray has signed Ivan
Lendl as his new coach.

Some are applauding Andy Murray for having landed such a big fish; others are questioning whether this pair of prickly characters can possibly forge a lasting alliance.

So what would constitute success for the new partnership? Yes, a first grand slam title in the Australian Open later this month would do it. But leaving aside the instant impact of Lendl’s arrival, Murray is determined to make the new appointment work over the long term.

A fervent football fan, he draws a parallel with long-serving managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, and points out that the clubs with stable coaching arrangements are the ones that prosper in the end.

“In football they change coaches all the time,” Murray explained in a telephone interview from Miami last month. “They make so many different appointments – if there’s a couple of bad results teams get rid of their coaches. But it’s the worst thing you can do to be chopping and changing all the time.

“What I don’t want to do is to appoint a guy and then realise halfway through the year that that’s not working and have to change it. At the age I’m at [24], and this stage of my career, I want someone that’s going to be there for the next four or five years, not just the next six months.”

It is a bold ambition, considering that most of his coaching arrangements have lasted only a couple of seasons. But at least Lendl’s appointment should quieten chatter over the 18-month interregnum that Murray spent without a full-time coach.

Since dismissing Miles Maclagan shortly after Wimbledon 2010, he has relied on a mixed bag of allies: his old friend Dani Vallverdu for hitting sessions, mother Judy for scouting opponents, the former French Open finalist Alex Corretja for clay-court expertise (an arrangement that ended in March) and Team Adidas coach Darren Cahill for occasional check-ups.

Last year’s results, which included semi-finals at all four grand slams, suggested that the system was working reasonably well. But when Murray fell short, his critics complained that his team lacked a strong leader. After all, both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have long-term coaches who have been with them since their youth, while Roger Federer has been working with the experienced Paul Annacone over the last year.

The situation has now been resolved, albeit nine months after Lendl first contacted Murray’s management team to suggest a link-up. Could Murray have moved more swiftly? Perhaps, but he objects to the idea that he let the coaching situation drift. He had been actively interviewing every suitable candidate, he told The Daily Telegraph last month. But most of them were reluctant to go back on the road.

“The thing that annoys me is the perception that I haven’t been searching for a coach,” Murray explained. “People said, ‘This person would be great for Andy, or this ex-player,’ and I spoke to a few, and a lot of them didn’t want to do the 25 weeks.

“There’s so few coaches and ex-players who want to do it, because you spend so much time travelling when you’re playing, that when you finish you enjoy being at home. A lot of guys say ‘I want to do 12 to 14 weeks,’ and that’s basically only the grand slams.

“I’m not a huge believer in turning up for the biggest events of the year and completely changing your routine by having someone different in your corner. They don’t see you over the rest of the year – the things you’re working on, the training that you’re doing on a day-to-day basis, if you’ve had any niggles – all of those sorts of things.”

Some of the same issues may apply in a fortnight’s time, when Murray begins his quest to reach a third successive Australian Open final. Lendl is not accompanying him in Brisbane this week, so their collaboration will begin on the practice courts of Melbourne Park shortly before the main tournament begins. Clearly, though, Murray is looking beyond the short term. So, presumably, is Lendl, who has not coached at ATP level before. But as one of the blunter characters in sport, he is unlikely to tiptoe his way into the job, or bite his tongue if hard words are required.

“He is one of the most successful players ever [and] a very honest guy as well,” Murray said yesterday, “which is very important because not everybody is like that. A lot of people are maybe too nice sometimes, they just don’t want to upset you or say the wrong thing, but he was very honest, very open and that was important.”

Over the past month, Murray has put in the hard yards in his pre-season training block in Miami. Now, in Lendl, he has a hard man in his corner to prepare him for the fray. Their time together could be triumphant or turbulent, but unlikely to be dull.